Date of Award
4-1992
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Occupational Therapy
First Advisor
Dr. David L. Nelson
Second Advisor
Dr. Ellen Page-Robin
Third Advisor
Dr. Doris A. Smith
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
Allen's (1985) Cognitive Disability approach provides a guideline for modifying the cognitive demands of an activity to match the abilities of an individual. Thirty older adults with a mean age of 78.1 years and a diagnosis indicating an irreversible dementia were selected for the study. A counterbalanced design was used to compare the performance of 15 individuals with a Level Three cognitive ability and 15 individuals with a Level Four cognitive ability on two tiling craft activities: one with Level Three cognitive demands and one with Level Four cognitive demands. Analysis of variance indicated a significant interaction between cognitive level and activity level (F [1,29] = 24.09, p <.001). Individuals with a Level Three cognitive ability performed significantly better on the activity with Level Three cognitive demands. For subjects with a Level Four cognitive ability, there was no significant difference in performance on the two levels of activity.
Recommended Citation
Kaeser, Deborah S., "Cognitive Disability Theory as a Basis for Activity Analysis for Elderly Persons with Dementia" (1992). Masters Theses. 871.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/871